Will the UW Services CA ever be in browsers via a parent .edu root CA?
Unfortunately at this point there is no CA playing the role of a higher-ed root CA. Even when there was one (operated by CREN, which has since folded), the only browser they were able to get their root into was Opera. The process of a getting a root into Internet Explorer (or really into Windows) is mysterious and almost certainly involves lots of money to pay for an intensive security audit. (See MS Root Certificate Program.) Internet2 is planning to operate a new higher-ed root CA, but getting its root into the browsers is unlikely for the same reasons. We considered the possibility of working with a commercial CA that is in IE, etc, since some do offer sub-CA services (i.e., certifying our CA, chaining to their root). This also looked complicated and expensive, and probably wouldn’t cover all browsers.
